Two distinct waves ofKorean immigration to Hawaiihave occurred in the last century. The first cohort arrived inHawaiibetween 1903 and 1924; the second wave began in 1965. Link

2. Chinese Immigration to Hawaii

TheChinese in Hawaiʻiconstitute about 4.7% of the state's population, most of whom (75%) have ancestors fromZhongshaninGuangdong. This number does not include people of mixedChineseandHawaiiandescent. If all people with Chinese ancestry inHawaiʻi(including the Chinese-Hawaiians) are included, they form about 1/3 of Hawaii's entire population. Link

3. Japanese Immigration to Hawaii

TheJapanese in Hawaiiare one of the major and most influential ethnic groups inHawaii. At their height in 1920, they constituted 43% of Hawaii's population. Link

4. Puerto Rican Immigration to Hawaii

Puerto Rican immigration to Hawaiibegan whenPuerto Rico's sugar industry was devastated by twohurricanesin 1899. The devastation caused a world wide shortage in sugar and a huge demand for the product fromHawaii. Hawaiian sugar plantation owners began to recruit the jobless, but experienced, laborers in Puerto Rico. Link

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - After suffering 10 years of horrific abuse at the hands of her husband, Rody Alvarado fled her native Guatemala in 1995 and applied for asylum in the U.S.

Last week, in a one-page decision, an immigration judge finally granted her request. It was the culmination of a long personal odyssey for Alvarado and of a thorny legal case that inflamed passions on both sides of the immigration debate. Full article

Dar Sun Kim, 100 years old, looks over her naturalization papers declaring her an American citizen while her daughter Chin Duk Chung stands behind at Flushing Hospital December 21, 2009 in the Queens borough of New York City. Kim, who was widowed in her native Korea in the 1940s, moved to the United States about 20 years ago to be closer to her children, and had always wanted to become a citizen but presumed she was too old. Her citizenship paperwork was in progress when she was hospitalized last week with stomach illness. USCIS officers decided to administer the oath to her in her hospital room.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Three Men Charged in Human Trafficking Conspiracy for Exploiting Thai Farm Workers in Hawaii

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced the indictment of Alec Souphone Sou and Mike Mankone Sou, owners of Aloun Farm in Hawaii, and Thai labor recruiter William Khoo late yesterday for engaging in a conspiracy to commit forced labor and visa fraud. The charges arise from the defendants’ alleged scheme to coerce the labor and services of Thai nationals brought by the defendants to Hawaii to work under the federal agricultural guest worker program. Both Sou defendants are also charged with conspiring to commit document servitude.

The charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. If convicted, Alec and Mike Sou each face maximum sentences of 15 years in prison and William Khoo faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Alec Sou, Mike Sou and William Khoo conspired and devised a scheme to obtain the labor of 44 Thai nationals by enticing them to come to Aloun Farms in Hawaii with false promises of lucrative jobs, and then maintaining their labor at the farm through threats of serious economic harm, according to the indictment. They arranged for the Thai workers to pay high recruitment fees, which were financed by debts secured with the workers’ family property and homes. Significant portions of these fees went to the defendants themselves, as alleged in the indictment. After arrival at Aloun Farms, the Sou defendants confiscated the Thai nationals’ passports and failed to honor the employment contracts. The Sou defendants maintained the Thai nationals’ labor by threatening to send them back to Thailand, where they would face serious economic harms created by the debts. The indictment also charges that the defendants engaged in a visa fraud conspiracy by making false representations in documents filed to obtain employment-based visas.

This case is being investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This case is being prosecuted by trial attorneys Susan French and Kevonne Small of the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division.